The Sands of Sorrow
by CompMan44
Summary: [Cont] Behind every great Hero is an Evil that won't back down. Behind every Evil is a fall from glory… and a rise to power.


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**- THE SANDS OF SORROW -**

A _Legend of Zelda_ fanfiction by CompMan44 

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_I think you know what goes here, but for the sake of propriety_

**Disclaimer (CMA):** The characters and settings used in this story are the property of their respective owners. They are used here without permission, but with no malicious or libelous intent. The author receives no compensation for this work aside from peer reviews. 

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**- PROLOGUE -**

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Link stepped into the cool of the stone Spirit Temple, a welcome change from the desert's searing heat. As his eyes adjusted, he scanned the room for his summoner. "Nabooru?" 

She stepped from behind an enormous engraved cobra to his left. "Link," the woman answered, nodding curtly. 

"What," asked the Hero, licking his chapped lips, "what did you call me for?" 

The Gerudo looked at him intently, considering her words with the utmost of care. Then, as if slapped, she looked sharply away. She said simply, "An explanation." 

"Explanation? I don't understand." 

Shaking her head, Nabooru gazed at him cautiously. "No, not from you. _For_ you. Regarding your ordeal. I think you deserve to know more about the man who was once called King of the Gerudo." 

He tilted his head, questioning with his eyes. "But he— that's all over now," said Link. "And there's really nothing to explain, you know. Not that I don't know already: it was foretold ages ago." 

"Foretold, yes. By the wisest prophets and the lowest fools alike. Din above, it was foretold by the Gerudo ourselves." Nabooru shook her head, her blood-red ponytail swaying behind her. "But we never understood." 

"'The Good shall smite the Evil,' that's how the world stays in balance. He was _evil_, Nabooru." 

"_No!_" The woman's outburst surprised them both, echoing throughout the room. "No," she repeated in a quieter tone, "he wasn't." 

"But we all saw—" 

"We all saw, we all heard about the horror he unleashed on this land. We've all lost someone to evil, Link. Who have you lost?" 

"I my mother. Her dying breath was at the foot of the Great Deku Tree, during the war." 

A wan smile crossed Nabooru's face. "Well, isn't that the kicker." She chuckled darkly. "The son loses his mother, and the mother her son." 

Link's breath caught, realization striking him. "You mean." 

"Yes." Her voice was a hoarse whisper, and her face was drawn tight, looking old beyond her years. "I thought it would be the most wonderful thing in the world, to bear a son. He would be our King, and as his mother, I, too, would be great. Ha!" she barked, and it sounded shrill, pained in Link's ears. "I was young, and a fool." 

"When— that is, how long ago was this?" 

"Thirty years ago, today." Link's attempt at tact wasn't lost on her. Smiling with genuine mirth, she said, "I'm forty-six, Link. Not a young Gerudo anymore." 

That much was already evinced in the pain her eyes showed, thought Link, nodding absently. 

"Sit," she commanded, breaking into his ponderings. Link did so, settling onto the hard steps leading to the Temple's inner chambers. Nabooru sat beside him, clasping her knees and resting her head on the back of her hands. Despite her age, to Link she looked like a little girl. "You've heard that the Gerudo are a race of women, haven't you?" 

"Yes," Link answered uncertainly. 

"It wasn't always like that. For as long as anyone alive today can remember, that's how it's been, but centuries ago, the Gerudo bore sons and daughters alike. We kept to ourselves, mostly, but were otherwise no different from other Hylians." She closed her eyes, remembering the ancient texts that she once studied in her youth. 

"The Gerudo were once a great people, Link. This desert was no desert in those days, but a vast, luscious jungle. Our people would live off the fruits and beasts provided by the land itself. They didn't need to barter, or sell, or _steal_ to survive. 

"It was a good way to live—there was no murder, or despair, or kings or queens or political scandal. There were the land, the sky, and the people. Primitive, perhaps, but perfect. Let the Hylians have their monarchs and money, but we were content. 

"Then it all changed, literally overnight, when some Gerudo hunters came upon a deposit of iron in a deep, unsettled part of our jungle. Iron was a precious resource in that day, as much of the world was beginning to realize its potential in weapons, tools, furniture, even children's toys. The Hylians got wind of the discovery, and before we could pull together a resistance, they had raped our land of the metal, and much more as well." 

Link's eyes were wide, and he shook his head in disbelief. 

"Yes, Link: Hylians. I won't blame _you_ for it, of course, nor the Hylians of today. But it changed the hearts of what was once an innocent race. When the Hylians left, and those Gerudo saw the remains of the jungle there was no jungle. The trees were uprooted, chipped into firewood for their camps; the creatures had been caught and slaughtered for _jerky_"—she paused, and spat her digust into the sand—"and all that was left was this infernal sand." 

"That's— that's horrible," Link whispered. "But but what's that got to do with not having sons?" 

Nabooru waved a hand dismissively. "I'm getting there," she told him. She cleared her throat, then launched back into her story. "Actually, that has everything to do with it." Noting his confusion, she explained, "Surely you can understand. You lived in the Forest for ten years, didn't you?" He nodded. "Right. And when you left, how did you feel? I bet you felt like it was the most natural thing in the world, didn't you?" she asked. 

"Of course not!" exclaimed Link, not catching the sarcastic edge to her question. He gawked at her words, incredulous. "I wouldn't even have left at all if the Great Deku Tree himself hadn't told me to." 

"Of course not," Nabooru repeated. "And that was after just ten years. Imagine living there for ten _hundred_ years, and then being told you had to leave. Or, as with my people, simply having it stolen from you, giving you no choice in the matter." 

He closed his gaping mouth, nodding as he began to understand. It had been torture to leave his few friends—to leave _Saria_. "Although," Link said, recalling further, "it was worth it." 

She shrugged. "Even so, it completely changed your life, didn't it?" 

"Yes." 

"And the death of the jungle changed the lives of the Gerudo. Some of the youngsters were quite rash, believing that the Tribe should retaliate and butcher the Hylians' homes as our own had been. The Elders thought it wiser to accept our lot and make the best of it." She snorted. "I'd be more inclined to go with the young ones. But the final decision, as it was made, is what stands today. Rather than crush Hyrule under our foot, and rather than sit back and take it, we struck back quietly, under their noses. We became the Gerudo Thieves. Infamous, as you well know," Nabooru finished with a grin. 

"Very much so," answered Link, returning the gesture. 

"Now," the Gerudo continued, "it was tens of years before the Hylians began to notice things missing; here and there we'd take coins, trinkets. Never anything big, or we'd be burglars not thieves. Understand?" It was roundabout logic, but Link was pretty sure he did understand, and nodded. 

"No you don't, you horrible liar," she said with a wry smirk. "You don't know the difference any more than a cow knows what beef is. Let me enlighten you. As the Gerudo see it, a thief is in the right. A thief steals for a good cause. On the other hand, a burglar," she said, pausing for emphasis, "steals for himself, steals just because he can." She waved her hands in exasperation, her tone becoming lighter as she added, "Then you've got _robbers_, which Nayru only knows why they steal, but the go about it _entirely_ the wrong way." Link just looked confused. 

"Forget it," Nabooru said. "Getting back to my main point, as a rule of thumb we never steal anything larger than we can pocket. Even thieves can have a code of honor. But one of those Gerudo boys, he thought differently. He was one of those who had thought the Gerudo should visit our wrath on the Hylians, and so one day, while the rest of us were 'busy' in the market square." 

_To be continued_

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**Author's Note:** Here it is; the opening for the first "real" _Zelda_ fic I've ever posted. Comments and criticism (preferably in small doses) are welcome; in fact, please _do_ leave a review! For the record, yes, I'm going somewhere with this, and no, I'm not abandoning my _Ranma ½_ fics. 


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